Christopher Hagan, a 12-year-old from Garden Grove, kept four types of spoiled milk in his mother's kitchen for 21 days, all in the name of science. Some sat on the counter, the rest in zip-lock bags in the refrigerator. His quest: to determine whether milk spoils faster if it has a greater amount of fat. Does it? "Uh, no," Christopher concluded.

The American Civil Liberties Union announced Friday that it has settled a lawsuit with the Anaheim Union High School District over censorship of gay and lesbian books. According to the agreement, 10 books from the series "Lives of Notable Gays and Lesbians," which were taken out of the Orangeview Junior High School Library in the fall, will be placed in a library at one of the district campuses.

Administrators in Capistrano Unified School District turned away nine seventh-graders Thursday because the students lacked hepatitis B vaccines required under a new law. "Some kids went out and got their shots and came back later," said Julie Jennings, the district's spokeswoman. "We anticipate that the others got their shots and will be bringing in their verification" today.

A group of protesters waving picket signs and screaming slogans gathered outside the Anaheim Union High School board meeting Thursday night, demanding that board members settle a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU has charged the district with censorship after administrators removed biographies of gays and lesbians from junior high school libraries.

Building a Better City: If you could design the layout of Los Angeles in the year 2005, what would it look like? After Monday's 6.6-magnitude earthquake, that question seems rather timely. About 80 junior high school students got a chance to contemplate a new City of Angels last week in Buena Park during a competition to design the best Future City.

Creativity Challenge winners from local middle and high schools were honored recently at the 11th annual awards ceremony for the competition, sponsored by Disneyland. More than 400 students submitted drawings and photographs or performed before a panel of judges. Two middle and two high school students received awards in each of the nine categories. Trophies were given to the top students in each category and $500 to their schools' fine-arts departments.

The boys barreled through the classroom door, holding up their freshly filled specimen bottles for others to see and relishing the chorus of "Ewwwwwwwwww!" "OK, grab your cups," exercise physiologist Tim Scheett told the next gaggle of boys, escorting them to the restroom while a lab technician put the first bottles on ice. It was urine sample day in a course called Boys Summer Science Challenge, one of the occasional reminders to the 20 students that this is no ordinary summer school class.

A Fullerton junior-high school student accused of hatching a Columbine-style plot to gun down classmates was sentenced Friday to 180 days in a juvenile facility. The youngster, whose name was withheld, admitted to Juvenile Court Commissioner Gregory Jones that he solicited another person to commit an assault with a deadly weapon on school property, said Cynthia Herrera, Orange County deputy district attorney. Jones also sentenced the boy to probation and court counseling.

January 20, 2000 | DAVID HALDANE and JEFF GOTTLIEB, TIMES STAFF WRITERS

A 13-year-old boy died Wednesday after collapsing during a half-mile run in physical education class at a La Habra middle school, officials said. Paramedics took Carlos Ruiz to St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton, where he was pronounced dead about 3:30 p.m. Betty Bidwell, principal at Imperial Middle School, said the eighth-grader had no medical problems the school was aware of. She said he was "a wonderful boy" who loved to play soccer.

Felix Navidad is dead, four suspects have been identified, and seventh-grade students at Washington Middle School are on the case. "I think Vera Cruise killed Felix," 12-year-old Eric Choi said. Classmate Maria Resendis, 12, pointed to Kendra Goode as the culprit. Zena Nino, 12, said she thinks Navidad killed himself. The students are participating in a two-week mock crime scene investigation that incorporates lessons in science, math, reading and language arts.

Christopher Hagan, a 12-year-old from Garden Grove, kept four types of spoiled milk in his mother's kitchen for 21 days, all in the name of science. Some sat on the counter, the rest in zip-lock bags in the refrigerator. His quest: to determine whether milk spoils faster if it has a greater amount of fat. Does it? "Uh, no," Christopher concluded.

A Fullerton junior-high school student accused of hatching a Columbine-style plot to gun down classmates was sentenced Friday to 180 days in a juvenile facility. The youngster, whose name was withheld, admitted to Juvenile Court Commissioner Gregory Jones that he solicited another person to commit an assault with a deadly weapon on school property, said Cynthia Herrera, Orange County deputy district attorney. Jones also sentenced the boy to probation and court counseling.

January 20, 2000 | DAVID HALDANE and JEFF GOTTLIEB, TIMES STAFF WRITERS

A 13-year-old boy died Wednesday after collapsing during a half-mile run in physical education class at a La Habra middle school, officials said. Paramedics took Carlos Ruiz to St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton, where he was pronounced dead about 3:30 p.m. Betty Bidwell, principal at Imperial Middle School, said the eighth-grader had no medical problems the school was aware of. She said he was "a wonderful boy" who loved to play soccer.

Administrators in Capistrano Unified School District turned away nine seventh-graders Thursday because the students lacked hepatitis B vaccines required under a new law. "Some kids went out and got their shots and came back later," said Julie Jennings, the district's spokeswoman. "We anticipate that the others got their shots and will be bringing in their verification" today.

The boys barreled through the classroom door, holding up their freshly filled specimen bottles for others to see and relishing the chorus of "Ewwwwwwwwww!" "OK, grab your cups," exercise physiologist Tim Scheett told the next gaggle of boys, escorting them to the restroom while a lab technician put the first bottles on ice. It was urine sample day in a course called Boys Summer Science Challenge, one of the occasional reminders to the 20 students that this is no ordinary summer school class.

Felix Navidad is dead, four suspects have been identified, and seventh-grade students at Washington Middle School are on the case. "I think Vera Cruise killed Felix," 12-year-old Eric Choi said. Classmate Maria Resendis, 12, pointed to Kendra Goode as the culprit. Zena Nino, 12, said she thinks Navidad killed himself. The students are participating in a two-week mock crime scene investigation that incorporates lessons in science, math, reading and language arts.

A group of protesters waving picket signs and screaming slogans gathered outside the Anaheim Union High School board meeting Thursday night, demanding that board members settle a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU has charged the district with censorship after administrators removed biographies of gays and lesbians from junior high school libraries.

Creativity Challenge winners from local middle and high schools were honored recently at the 11th annual awards ceremony for the competition, sponsored by Disneyland. More than 400 students submitted drawings and photographs or performed before a panel of judges. Two middle and two high school students received awards in each of the nine categories. Trophies were given to the top students in each category and $500 to their schools' fine-arts departments.